REFERENCE: Stephen Barrett, MD, and William Jarvis, PhD (editors),
"The Health Robbers", Prometheus Books, Buffalo NY (1993). Chapter
23, "The Gadgeteers", by Wallace Janssen, pp. 321-335.
pp. 330-332
Scientology and Its E-Meter
Twenty years after the Spectrochrome trial, the FDA became involved
with Scientology, another group that used a supposed healing device in
its ntuals The device, a form of galvanometer, is called the Hubbard
Electropsychometer (or "E-Meter"). Its inventor, and the founder of
Scientology, was a science fiction writer named Lafayette Ronald
Hubbard. Hubbard has reportedly said "If a man really wanted to make
a million dollars, the best way would be to stad his own religion."
An article by Hubbard in the May 1950 issue of "Astounding Science
Fiction" was such a hit that he dashed off a book-length version --
"Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Healing." Dianetics quickly
became popular, and a Dianetic Research Foundation was established at
Elizabeth, New Jersey. Practitioners trained by the Foundation set up
offfices in Hollywood, on New York City's Park Avenue, and on
Chicago's "Gold Coast." The practitioners were called "auditors" and
patients were interviewed while they reclined on couches. After a few
years, dianetics declined in popularity, but the invention of the
E-Meter and the incorporation of Scientology as a church, revived it.
Disarmingly simple, the early version of the E-Meter used small soup
cans for its hand-held electrodes.
FDA's involvement with Scientology began in 1958 when it learned that
the Distribution Center of the organization was selling a drug called
"Dianazine." This product was promoted for "radiation sickness," a
condition widely feared at that time as apotential consequence of
"fallout" from atomic weapons testing. Dianazine, a vitamin mixture
in tablet form, was seized and condemned by the court as misbranded.
A follow-up inspection led to an investigation of the E-Meter. Action
against the device began when more than one hundred E-Meters were
seized by U.S. marshals at the headquarters of the "Founding Church of
Scientology" in Washington, D.C. The court papers charged that the
devices were misbranded by false claims that they effectively treated
some 70 percent of all physical and mental illness. It was also
charged that the devices did not bear adequate directions for treating
the conditions for which they were recommended in Scientology
literature.
A jury trial resulted in a verdict that the E-Meter was misbranded by
the Scientology literature -- hence both the device and its "labeling"
were subject to condemnation. The court rejected as irrelevant in
this case the defense that the literature was exempt from legal action
because it was issued by a "religious" organization. The Court of
Appeals, however, reversed the verdict on the basis that the
government had done nothing to rebut Scientology's claim that it was a
religion. A new trial was ordered, at the close of which Judge
Gerhardt A. Gesell issued a fourteen-page opinion. Regarding the
practice of auditing, the judge stated:
Hubbard and his fellow Scientologists developed the notion of
using an E-Meter to aid auditing. Substantial fees were charged
for the meter and for auditing sessions using the meter. They
repeatedly and explicitly represented that such auditing
effectuated cures of many physical and mental illnesses. An
individual processed with the aid of the E-Meter was said to reach
the intended goal of 'clear' and was led to believe that there was
reliable scientific proof that once cleared many, indeed most,
illnesses would successfully be cured. Auditing was guaranteed to
be successful. All this was and is false.
Upholding FDA's charges that the E-Meter was misbranded, Judge Gesell
ordered that use of the E-Meter be confined to "bona fide religious
counseling" and that the device be prominently labeled with the
warning notice:
The E-Meter is not medically or scientifically useful for the
diagnosis, treatment or prevention of any disease. It is not
medically or scientifically capable of improving the health or
bodily functions of anyone.
After eight years of litigation, with two complete trials and three
rulings of the Court of Appeals, the E-Meters and literature were
returned to the Scientology headquarters. Was anything accomplished?
Most definitely. The courts saw the necessity to uphold the food and
drug law even in a situation that involved the First Amendment. The
court upheld the right of believers to believe even in science fiction
-- provided that they do not violate the laws that protect the public
health.